: but south carolina republican lindsey graham said the measures being touted bypresidentobamaandmost democrats would do little to reduce gun violence. >> the president wanted three things done. he wanted to ban assault weapons. he wanted to limit magazine sizes. and he wanted to impose a universal background check. well all three of those concepts are going to be on the floor of the united states senate for a vote, and they're all going to lose. why? because they're not the solution to the problem we all face. >> on this vote the yeas are 54, the nays are 46. >> reporter: in the end, as vice president biden presided, the background check amendment failed to clear the 60-vote threshold needed to pass. the concealed firearm measure and the ban on assault weapons. also failed. but late in the day, senate democrats-- joined by family members of victims of gun violence-- pledged to keep up the fight. >> i want everyone to understand this is just the beginning not the end. the forces so obsessed with defeating any commonsense reforms whatsoever, they lost site of big picture. >> reporter:

. that's already the case in about half the states. the state of missouri andtheobamaadministrationwanted a blanket rule allowing the blood tests without a warrant. thousands of people in southwestern pakistan were homeless today-- 24 hours after a powerful earthquake rocked neighboring iran. at least 700 homes in the mashkel area of baluchistan province were reduced to rubble. some 35 pakistanis were killed in the quake, and another 150 were injured. the pakistani army said it deployed several hundred soldiers to the quake zone to bring much-needed humanitarian relief. in the middle east, islamist militants fired at least two rockets from egypt's sinai peninsula into southern israel, adding to growing security concerns there. they targeted the resort town of eilat. but police officials said there were no casualties. meanwhile, palestinians in the west bank and gaza marked prisoner day, urging israel to release palestinian detainees. they waved flags and carried pictures of some of the 4,500 palestinians in custody. new zealand became the 13th country in the world today -- and the